Julia Kristeva

Bulgarian-French philosopher and psychoanalyst known for abjection and intertextuality.

Kristeva was awarded the Holberg International Memorial Prize in 2004 for her work on language, culture, and literature.^[1] The psychoanalyst, philosopher, and novelist Julia Kristeva has authored more than 30 books.^[2]

Last updated 2026-09-30 from the source article.

Quick Facts

Birth name: Yuliya Stoyanova Krasteva
Born: 24 June 1941
Birthplace: Sliven, Kingdom of Bulgaria
Alma mater: University of Sofia; EPHE
Doctoral advisor: Lucien Goldmann
Academic advisors: Roland Barthes
Institutions: University of Paris VII
Era: Contemporary philosophy

Facts from the source article.

Life and work

She studied at the University of Sofia and moved to France in December 1965 on a research fellowship.^[3] Her character Stephanie Delacour in Possessions can be seen as her alter ego.^[4] Kristeva's birthplace is Sliven, Bulgaria; her parents were Christians, and her father worked as an accountant for a church.^[5] In 1979, Kristeva completed her psychoanalytic training and received her degree.^[6]

During the early 1970s, Kristeva was an instructor at Columbia University and continues to hold a visiting professor position there.^[7] Among Kristeva's novels are The Old Man and the Wolves, Murder in Byzantium, and Possessions.^[4]

What the cited sources add

The Guardian interview notes that Kristeva associates her fascination with the sub-verbal with Orthodox Church liturgy from her childhood.^[8] Kristeva is associated with the concept of "intertextuality," the idea that all literature constantly converses with other literature.^[8] Ascherson concluded that the combined intelligence value of her reports was almost zero.^[9] According to the commission, Kristeva was recruited in June 1971, which was six years after she had departed Bulgaria.^[10]

Neal Ascherson reported that after Kristeva moved to Paris, Bulgarian intelligence officers confronted her and reminded her that her family in her home country remained vulnerable.^[9]

References

Wikipedia, "Julia Kristeva" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Archived copy"; "Le Lauréat du Prix de la Principauté 2021", Philoblog, 13 October 2021 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
Sofia, "Julia Kristeva was communist secret agent, Bulgaria claims", the Guardian, March 28, 2018. facts only, no text reused. theguardian.com
Wikipedia, "Julia Kristeva" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Siobhan Chapman, Christopher Routledge, Key thinkers in linguistics and the philosophy of language, Oxford University Press US, 2005, , Google Print, p. 166; Nilo Kauppi, Radicalism in French Culture: A Sociology of French Theory in the 1960s, Burlington, VT, 2010, p. 25.; Schrift, "Twentieth-century French Philosophy: Key Themes and Thinkers", Blackwell Publishing, 2006, p. 147; Benoît Peeters, Derrida: A Biography, Cambridge: Polity Press, 2013, pp. 176-77. (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Julia Kristeva" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Sutherland, "The ideas interview: Julia Kristeva; Why is a great critic ashamed of being fashionable?", The Guardian, 14 March 2006 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Julia Kristeva" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Fieldnotes from Europe: Today's Fascists accuse Julia Kristeva", Transregional Center for Democratic Studies, 2018-12-20 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Julia Kristeva" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: McAfee, "Julia Kristeva", Routledge, 2004, p. 38 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Julia Kristeva" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Riding, Alan, Correcting Her Idea of Politically Correct . The New York Times. 14 June 2001.; "Library of Congress authority record for Julia Kristeva", Library of Congress; "BNF data page", Bibliothèque nationale de France; Hélène Volat, "Julia Kristeva: A Bibliography" (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Sutherland, "The ideas interview: Julia Kristeva; Why is a great critic ashamed of being fashionable?", The Guardian, 14 March 2006. facts only, no text reused. theguardian.com
Neal Ascherson, "Don’t imagine you’re smarter" , London Review of Books, 19 July 2018.. facts only, no text reused. lrb.co.uk
Wikipedia, "Julia Kristeva" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Julia Kristeva avait été recrutée par les services secrets communistes bulgares", Bibliobs, 28 March 2018; Sofia, "Julia Kristeva was communist secret agent, Bulgaria claims", the Guardian, March 28, 2018 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Julia Kristeva (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.